Heretofore, large peripheral gaskets were seated by bolting a cover to a peripheral flange. Tight, uniform seals required many bolts positioned close together. In order to close and seal the access port, an entire set of nuts (or bolts) had to be removed by the operator. Proper seating and closing required the operator to replace and systematically tighten each nut. The prior art bolting approach to large gasket sealing was time consuming and required hand tools. In addition, the nuts and bolts were small and were easily misplaced when removed from the flange.